Redlands family to do charity work at child refugee camp in Burma

REDLANDS - A dentist and his family will travel to Burma in mid-December to do charity work for a school that helps abandoned, abused or neglected children.

The trip will be the second time that Keith Song and his family, including wife Tami, daughter Keaton and son Tanner, will provide dental work to children at the Bamboo School as well as other villagers.

The school - founded in 2000 by Catherine Riley-Bryan - is on the border of Burma, also known as Mayanmar, and Thailand in the remote village of BongTi.

It has a medical ministry, mobile clinics and ambulance services to the Sai Yok Hospital, and a school of language teaching its students English and Thai and the Bible.

Riley-Bryan founded the school after resigning from the Thailand Adventist Mission and learning about the Karen Hill Tribe that was affected by fighting along the border of Thailand during a 1940s war.

Keaton Song, a 17-year-old senior at Loma Linda Academy, learned of the school through her church - Loma Linda University Church - and went on a philanthropic effort to learn more in December 2011.

It was there her eyes were opened, she said.

"I just came home and was like, `What am I doing in America?' It was a reverse culture shock," she said. "I didn't know what to expect. And I don't think there's a whole lot to do to prepare someone for this trip."

Along with church members, the Songs built bamboo dormitories for the more than 80 children who live at the compound.

The number of children changes often, as some are sometimes removed from the school or they leave to seek higher education, Keaton said.

After her first trip with her church, she enlisted her family to help.

Keith Song is known for his philanthropic work. In addition to owning his own dentistry on Cajon Street, Song provides low-cost dental work through the Assistance League, said his daughter.

In August the family provided dental care for students and villagers.

To help, Keith Song enlisted his wife, a dentist herself, and his son.

"We pretty much took care of all the children (at the school)," Tami Song said. "When we finished with them, the (school's) headmaster came with his assistants, but he was too afraid to receive treatment, so he made his assistants get their teeth fixed. We provided fillings...everything, including implants."

The Songs plan to visit the school at least twice a year, Keaton said.

Members of her congregation also will attend as part of the church's Global Outreach efforts, the family said.

To raise awareness of the situation, Keaton is planning a film project to share the children's stories.

She also will give a presentation on her experience at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Duke Hall at the University of Redlands. Her father will open the discussion, which is sponsored by both the Morning and Noon Rotary clubs.

Tami Song said that many of her husband's clients have also expressed an interest in helping, including a Redlands plumber who wants to go to the school to provide plumbing needs.

"Everybody asks.... People are very interested," she said. "Whatever (people) are good at, they can ask if there's a need and they can come and do it."